Safety Manager Job Description, Duties, and Responsibilities

This post provides detailed information on the safety manager job description, including the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities they commonly perform.

It also highlights the major requirements you may be expected to meet to be hired for the safety manager role by most recruiters/employers.

What Does a Safety Manager Do?

A safety manager is responsible for preventing accidents and making sure safety measures are adhered to in business and/or workplaces.

Safety Managers are usually professionals whose job description commonly entails making sure work places meet safety and health benchmark requirements. They also administer corrective measures when and where it is needed.

They are in charge of formulating company or business policies and carrying out investigations in the case of accidents. They also put in place, post-accident follow-up procedures for every worker.

On a general note, the work description of a safety manager involves supervising the work of other professionals within the company.

Their role is one that requires in-depth knowledge of the policies and/or regulations of safety programs, techniques of supervising, and policies that guide personnel generally.

Safety managers must remain calm at all times even in the face of serious crisis at workplace; they have to lead by example in such a situation so as to prevent organization-wide panic.

Safety Manager Job Description Example/Template

The safety manager performs various functions in ensuring the safety of personnel at work places.

The job description below shows example of typical tasks, duties, and responsibilities majorly performed by safety managers:

• Select and assign staff to different roles, ensuring equal opportunities in hiring and in promotion
• Prepare and maintain records, reports, and formulate correspondence relative to the job
• Monitor and organize special studies and/or analysis of safety programs and policies/procedures
• Organize and also take part in assessing already existing safety programs and policies; assessing accident/injury reports, and arranging accident/injury-related statistics
• Establish procedures and recommend changes in policies if the need arises. Recommend solutions to issues, prevention measures, and other avenues for improvement
• Identify the training and development needs of company staff, and also ensure that the needs are met
• Coordinate various activities like scheduling of work assignments, monitoring the work of junior employees, and setting of clear priorities
• Inspect machinery used in the workplace in a bid to finding out possible unsafe conditions
• Work hand-in-hand with company medical services unit to provide and organize emergency services for injured and/or sick staff
• Establish target areas and long term accident prevention and cost-control goals
• Be regularly aware of new developments in safety laws that are bound to have effect on the organization
• Act as a representative of the company when it comes to society or industry safety programs
• Regularly provide training and coaching across all staff levels as required by the government’s safety rules and regulations
• Make sure that new employees are well-informed as regards safety instructions before they start work, and also emphasize and explain any form of possible environmental hazard, including applicable precautions
• Provide leadership during safety threatening crisis situation at workplace that ensures calmness.

Requirements – Skills, Abilities, and Knowledge – for Safety Manager Job

If you are interested in working as a safety manager and want to know what you need to have to access the position, here are typical requirements and qualifications to possess:

• A good safety manager must be someone who pays attention to the smallest of details so as to prevent accidents and/or injuries
• Good communication and interpersonal skills are required. This is to enable relevant information about different situations to be processed properly and necessary actions to be taken
• He/she must be able to work as a team member or even a team leader when needed to do so
• Must possess and display a high level of organizational and coordinating abilities at all times
• Must have good leadership skills and also exhibit an exceptional level of motivational abilities
• He/she must be someone that is able to prioritize tasks (especially in the case of putting safety first at all times)
• A good manager in charge of safety must be proactive at all times. He/she must be willing and able to tackle issues head-on.
• Must possess the power of persuasion. Most times it isn’t enough to be able to communicate but to also do so in an effective manner. In the process of explaining safety policies, good persuasion skills are needed to pass the message across properly
• Possess BS or BA in safety management or in any other related field of study, while an MS will be an added advantage
• A certified safety professional status is required
• Recognized certification(s) in risk management and safety/health management
• At least 3 years of working experience as a safety management environment.

Conclusion

If you are an employer, the sample safety manager job description presented in this post can be helpful to you in creating an effective description for the position in your organization if you are hiring for the role.

You can easily create a detailed safety manager work description from the content of this post that makes it easier to attract the best candidates to your job offer who can head the department effectively.

This post also provides useful information for individuals interested in getting into the workplace safety management career. They will find all they need to know about the duties and responsibilities of the role.